The ‘Beast’ is largely remembered these days, in his 25th season as a professional, as one of the finest doubles players of his generation, capable of aggressive, tactically adept play both from the baseline and at the net. But just like every player who aspires to make a living from the sport, you begin your life as a singles player. Max Mirnyi, initially, competed in both singles and doubles competition, his appetite whetted at Nick Bollettieri’s Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, with the likes of Tommy Haas and Andre Sa on tennis and basketball courts.

“My singles career and wins I earned, got me to a combined 1,000 match wins recently,” Mirnyi told ATPWorldTour.com. “A big reason why I was the player I am in doubles, is because I played a lot of both disciplines early in my tennis development. I enjoyed it and I don’t look back, thinking if I hadn’t had played more doubles, then I could have done a bit better in singles.”

Fifteen years ago, Mirnyi arrived at the Rotterdam Ahoy unsure of his chances in a loaded singles draw, fatigued and hoping to figure out a way to work himself into form. “I really had no expectations coming in, so remember thinking I’d take it one match at a time,” said Mirnyi, reflecting on the 2003 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.

For one glorious week, his serve and volley, attacking tennis, fluent movement and positive intent guaranteed the Belarusian one of his most memorable periods of his career as he came through a who’s who of ATP World Tour stars for the Rotterdam title.

“The memories are so fresh, as it was the only singles title I could win,” said Mirnyi. “Fifteen years later, it is so vivid and I’m incredibly proud of it. It’s definitely one of the better tournaments on the circuit and being indoors and where it’s played, makes it an historic arena. It’s great to be part of the group that has won in Rotterdam.”

Before Mirnyi in February 2003, stood two future Top 10 stars in Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic, a former World No. 1 in Yevgeny Kafelnikov and a future global leader of the sport, Roger Federer, who was then ranked No. 5 in the ATP Rankings.

“I believe I played Mario Ancic in the first round, which was a tough match [6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-4], then I had another big Croatian server in the second round, in Ivan Ljubicic,” recalls Mirnyi. “That match got cut short, as he got hurt [at 2-4 in the first set], but it helped me, as afterwards I felt like I was able to spread my wings a bit. I had a bit of a breather and got comfortable playing on the courts.

“Playing against Kafelnikov was like looking up to an older brother, as we’d once shared a house together at Wimbledon. I tried to soak in and learn as much as possible from him, a champion, his daily routines. So playing against him was trickier than playing Roger [in the semi-finals], because I had that connection. It was a tough match [7-6(5), 7-6(4)] and a nervous experience. I definitely wanted to beat him, but I had so much respect for him.”

Then came Federer, Mirnyi’s doubles partner in Rotterdam. Not the player who this week seeks to overtake Rafael Nadal and return to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings for a record-extending 303rd week, but a 21-year-old Swiss with a burgeoning reputation and three ATP World Tour crowns to his name.

Mirnyi, speaking with a wealth of experience, following encounters against Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, through to the current day goliaths, remembers, “Roger wasn’t the player he is now, but he was on the way up and I could feel there was something special about his game.

“These days everyone seems to move the ball around the court with so much ease, but back then Roger stood out by using different spins. I felt guys I’d played up to at that point, the ball was coming at me the same, but with Roger I always started seeing different trajectories of the ball. I wasn’t sure why. Soon after we found out what was up his sleeve. I maybe was a little fortunate, coming in and serving and volleying, taking it to him to win [5-7, 6-3, 6-4].”

The atmosphere for the final was fun, the Dutch fans educated and well versed, but their hearts were with Raemon Sluiter, who was hoping to follow in the footsteps of Tom Okker (1974) and Richard Krajicek (1995, 1997) – the current Tournament Director (since 2004) – as a homegrown champion in Rotterdam.

“Going into the final, playing Sluiter was no easy task, but game wise I knew I could match up well again him. He’d played and beaten me in Challenger matches in the past, but that day I felt the matches that got me to the final, would get me over my hump. He was an offensive player, a tough opponent taking the ball early as I came forward. But I used a lot of body serves and got him moving up the court in order to try to pass me.”

Mirnyi held his nerve to beat Sluiter 7-6(3), 6-4 and was thrilled to win the Rotterdam title. “It was phenomenal.”

Later that day, after a brief rest, Mirnyi returned to the Centre Court and almost made it a double celebration, when he partnered Federer in the doubles final. They lost 7-6(4), 6-2 to Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley, but Mirnyi fondly remembers, “It was fun and I treasure that moment today. As Roger and I also played in the doubles that week, his coach at the time, Peter Lundgren, was looking after and helping us both in practice. That weekend, Belarus ice hockey team beat the iconic Swiss, so there was a lot to cheer.”

Four months later, on 9 June 2003, Mirnyi became No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings. For years, the silver Rotterdam trophy took pride of place in his Belarus home, but, gathering dust, he recently took the decision, with his father, Nikolai, to move it – and his 50 doubles crowns, including six Grand Slam doubles titles – to the Max Mirnyi Sports Centre in Minsk and inspire the next generation from Belarus.

One day, Mirnyi will dig out old video tapes, and latterly CDs or USB sticks of his singles matches, and reflect on his career and former glories, but for now the 40-year-old is still out there between the lines.

Kevin Anderson spent one week in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings in October 2016, but then ankle and dental operations, a hip injury and more setbacks kept the right-hander off the court or far from his best. Exactly one year ago he competed at the Memphis Open, losing in the first round as the World No. 74.

A year later, the Memphis event has moved to Long Island and is now the New York Open. The last time the top seed was in the big apple, he advanced to his first Grand Slam final at the 2017 US Open, the culmination of an impressive comeback that saw Anderson thrust himself into contention for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals. Now, aged 31, the South African is back at No. 11 in the ATP Rankings and determined more than ever to make up for lost time and challenge, once more, for titles.

“It gave me extra motivation to keep pushing myself to get in that position again. It was nice to be there once. I’d love to be there several times and compete for more tournaments at that level,” Anderson told ATPWorldTour.com. “I think there’s so much for me achieve at the [ATP World Tour] Masters [1000] level, have better successes there. I haven’t won any 500 events. I haven’t won a title in a few years. So I think there’s a lot for me to still play for.”

Anderson has finished four of the past five seasons inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings, but has won just one ATP World Tour title (2015 Winston-Salem) since 2012 and has captured three tour-level trophies overall. His major goal in 2018 is to qualify for his first season finale at The O2 in London, which will be held from 11-18 November.

But it is only February.

“That’s a longer-term goal that comes on the back of the work you put in day-in and day-out,” Anderson said. “My goal is to challenge and push myself each and every single day.”

That is fitting, as there are few competitors on the ATP World Tour who embrace the daily grind of life as a professional tennis player like Anderson. Brad Stine, who has coached the likes of former World No. 1 Jim Courier, Andrei Medvedev and Mardy Fish, joined the big server’s team this season after Anderson mutually split with Neville Godwin.

One thing has stood out in their short time together.

“Kevin is probably the most focused, intense, professional person I’ve been around since Jim Courier,” Stine said. “What he demands from himself and what he expects from his team when he’s at the office, inside the fences training for his tennis, is very high. I’ve really enjoyed that, actually. That intensity level and that demand, it’s great.”

And that is not just when times are good, as they have been often lately for Anderson — he began the ATP World Tour campaign at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune, India with a strong performance, losing in the final against Gilles Simon. But at the Australian Open, Anderson was ousted in the first round by eventual semi-finalist Kyle Edmund in a five-set thriller.

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“I felt I was playing very good tennis going in there off the finals in Pune,” Anderson said. “I came up against a very tough opponent in Kyle Edmund… I would have loved to be there, loved to have done better. Again, my philosophy is to try to learn from it, [even] if it’s sometimes very difficult [to swallow].”

Stine had only spent one week in Delray Beach, Florida working with Anderson and then another week with him at Melbourne Park. But it was the World No. 11’s reaction to those losses that showed his coach the most.

“One of the things that I was really impressed with Kevin after the match, not having known him… was his level of maturity and how he dealt with those losses,” Stine said. “Just sitting down and analysing the situations. What were the positives and what were the negatives? What were the things that we need to learn from and improve on?”

And now, Anderson could move forward in New York — where he will open his campaign against 21-year-old American Ernesto Escobedo on Thursday — like he always does, trying to get better each day and with each match.

Even though he is in a very different spot than he was this time a year ago, that does not change Anderson’s mentality.

“The goal is to win the event,” Anderson said. “As I’ve always said, you just have to look at the depth of men’s tennis to know that every round is a tough match. There are no gimmes at all.

“I’ve had a good few weeks now. And I’m excited to begin my U.S. campaign here.”

David Goffin, once again, produced a scintillating performance at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament to beat Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-3 and book his place in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Goffin who has lost just eight games en route to the last eight, hit nine aces and lost just one point in each set behind his first serve to beat the Spanish left-hander in 55 minutes. The 2017 runner-up raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first set before securing the set on his third set point. The Belgian’s momentum flowed seamlessly into the second set with a crucial fourth break of the Lopez serve proving the key to victory in Rotterdam.

The World No. 7 now leads their FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series against Lopez 3-0 and awaits the winner of the second-round match between sixth seed Tomas Berdych and Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in the quarter-finals.

Robin Haase won the all-Dutch battle on Centre Court to beat countryman Thiemo de Bakker 6-2, 6-2. The 30-year-old lost just six points on serve and faced no break points en route to a 54-minute victory. Haase will meet a second compatriot in as many rounds, after Tallon Griekspoor’s surprise win over Stan Wawrinka on Tuesday.

Qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert also made his way through to the second round after Open Sud de France finalist Richard Gasquet was forced to retire. Herbert was leading 3-1 early in the first set when Gasquet called time on the match.

Did You Know?
David Goffin won 25 of his last 33 matches in 2017, including back-to-back titles in Shenzhen (d. Dolgopolov) and Tokyo (d. Mannarino).

Noah Rubin couldn’t have envisioned a better start during his homecoming on the ATP World Tour. The Long Island native, facing former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori, broke and led 3-0 on Tuesday at the New York Open in Long Island. A win over Nishikori would have been among the biggest of Rubin’s young career.

But then Nishikori, who’s continuing his comeback from right-wrist surgery, ruined the party. The 28-year-old played steady tennis and came back to win his first tour-level match since 9 August (l. Monfils in Montreal) 7-5, 6-3 in New York.

“He started very well, very aggressive. Serving well. I think he played a little better than me in the first set. Second set I was playing a little better, a little more aggressive,” Nishikori said.

Nishikori has now won six matches in a row after reeling off five consecutively to win the RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas, an ATP Challenger Tour event, earlier this month. “It helped me a lot for my confidence tennis-wise, and also was a big help for my wrist,” Nishikori said of the Challenger title.

Nishikori will next face Russian Evgeny Donskoy, who beat Dominican Victor Estrella Burgos 7-5, 6-1.

In other action, Spain’s Adrian Menendez-Maceiras saved five match points to beat home favourite and seventh seed Steve Johnson 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(7) and claim his fourth tour-level win. Johnson led 5-2 in the third set and had two match points on Menendez-Maceiras’ serve at 5-3. But the Spaniard erased them both, and three more consecutively from 3/6 down in the third-set tie-break.

The Spaniard will next meet Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who beat Italian qualifier Stefano Travaglia 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4.

When Diego Schwartzman was 13 years old, a doctor told him he wouldn’t grow beyond 5-foot-7.

The news didn’t sit well with Schwartzman, who had dreams of becoming a professional tennis player from an early age. The doctor’s prediction came when only three of the 23 players to hold the ATP World Tour No.1 ranking at the time measured below 5-foot-11 (Marcelo Rios, 5-foot-9; Lleyton Hewitt and Jimmy Connors, both 5-foot-10). 

Feeling defeated, Schwartzman returned home with his head held low and shoulders slumped. Quieter and more reserved than his usual cheery self, the teenager told his parents: “I’m not going to play tennis anymore.”

Perhaps at that moment it felt unfair to Diego that his older siblings — Andres, Natali and Matias — were all taller than he was, even though they didn’t share his dreams of pursuing a tennis career. “If you were only 3 or 4 inches taller …,” coaches and colleagues would tell him. And now, the doctor’s forecast; it was a lot for the young Diego to keep inside his head. 

If Diego had his doubts, his family did not, and they weren’t about to let him give up on his dreams of playing tennis. His mother, Silvana, remembers it well: “He told me he wasn’t going to do anything well in life if the doctor was right. I told Diego he was wrong and his height shouldn’t have an influence on his dreams because since the day he was born, I knew he would become something special. I pushed him to keep fighting.”

^{Nicknamed ‘El Peque’ (Shorty) by his friends and family as a child, Diego Schwartzman was almost always outsized by his opponents.}

Silvana’s talk seemed to raise her son’s spirits and served as a “call to action.” And Silvana meant every word she said that day. Her youngest son was born Aug. 16, 1992 at the Institute of Diagnosis and Treatment in Buenos Aires at 1:25 in the morning. She immediately knew he was unique; bright-eyed from the moment he was born, there was already something different about him. Soon after Diego’s birth, Silvana had him baptised in honor of Diego Maradona, the Argentine soccer legend who himself stood just 5-foot-5 but went on to do great things in his respective sport.

Things were hardly easy for Silvana, even before the birth of her fourth child. She and her husband Ricardo struggled financially, often skipping meals just to make ends meet.

“When I got pregnant with Diego, my husband and I were already doing things like passing on lunch to save money,” Silvana said. “It was like everyone, the world, had it out for me, so I had it out with the world. But I knew I was chosen for this, to live this life for a reason.”

Despite the odds, Silvana, who played tennis at an amateur level, had a sense one of her children would grow up to be a tennis player. When Andres, Natali and Matias chose different paths, she pinned her hopes on Diego. 

“I put my faith in him,” Silvana said. 

Her intuition seemed correct when she noticed a young Diego take particular interest in the bright yellow tennis balls. She was sure her son was all but destined for a future in the sport when one day, Silvana saw Diego bounce a tennis ball off the kitchen wall with a soup spoon.

“He had incredible timing, even at a young age,” Silvana said. “I’d play in the long corridors of the local tennis club and Diego would spend hours with my husband on the court. He wasn’t even as tall as the height of the net at the time. Still, he never wanted to play with a junior racquet; it always had to be a big racquet. He played soccer as a child as well, but the things he was capable of doing in tennis were out of the ordinary. And he had flair; he’d boast to us about beating players who were a lot taller than him.” 

^{Schwartzman was passionate about soccer from an early age. Diego (far right) poses with his older brother, both wearing Real Madrid jerseys.}

Between the ages of eight and 10, Diego tried his luck at soccer at the Club Social Parque. It was on those grounds where Diego’s idol, Juan Roman Riquelme, a retired Boca Juniors star and one of the most talented soccer players of his generation, emerged. He played as a “wheel man” — the central midfield position whose responsibility is to distribute the ball to forwards and organise the attack. He was brave, persevering, even sacrificial at that role. Between the two sports, Diego admits he was more passionate about soccer, Argentina’s national pastime, than he was about tennis. His natural abilities and the ease that came with the racquet, however, eventually swayed him away from the soccer field and on to the tennis court.

If Diego was to follow his dream of making it in tennis, however, he’d need help financially. His family was just scraping by: Their clothing and jewelry company went bankrupt near the end of the ‘90s and Diego he didn’t have the benefit of an apparel or equipment sponsor. The Schwartzmans were on their own. 

If nothing else, though, the family was inventive and resourceful. They still had rubber bracelets that they made and sold with phrases of inspiration in the fight against cancer and AIDS. The family came together in an effort to sell the bracelets. Silvana, who worked as a hotel decorator at the time, traveled to tournaments with Diego and sold the colorful bracelets out of two bags. The money she made was used to fund her son’s travel expenses.

Noticing a trend, father Ricardo had an idea: He decided to create rubber bracelets with shields, names and logos of popular soccer teams. Soon, Silvana was being approached by children eager to buy the Schwartzmans’ rubber bracelets, which sold for 3 pesos (less than 1USD). 

Diego was becoming a tennis player on the court, and a small-time businessman on the side. In between matches, he and his mom made good use of their time by not only selling the bracelets, but commissioning other players to sell them as well. There was even incentive: If those commissioned managed to sell 10 bracelets by the end of the day, they won a free bracelet. Little as it was, the mother and son duo were making a profit, but they remained mindful of expenses, and what got them to where they were in the first place. 

“The money we made was invested in hotel stays, and we’d spend 20 pesos, max,” Silvana said. “In Mendoza (a large city on the Eastern side of Argentina) we found a cheap hotel with rooms that cost 2 pesos. The room was so small, we slept on a twin-sized bed. When Diego showered, he’d splash water into the other room so I could wash up a little too. Everything was appreciated that much more because of what we went through. Without the efforts of all of us, his dad, his brothers and sister, he never would have gotten to where he is now.” 

With the doctor’s bleak outlook behind him, Diego, now 25 years old, has made it his goal to defy the odds, contradict the norm and silence the doubters. He did eventually top out at 5-foot-7, but he’s insistent on reaching new heights, with the goal of boosting his profile and earning a good living in the process. Last year, his self-belief and tenacity paid off: Schwartzman became the shortest men’s player to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam event in 23 years. He also managed to break into the Top 25 in the ATP Rankings for the first time, and earned more than US$1.5m in prizemoney.

If his impressive fourth-round showing at the Australian Open in January is any indication, 2018 should be another banner year for Diego Schwartzman.

^{Diego stands in between family members with a plaque following his first ATP World Tour title.}

For the record, Felix Auger-Aliassime’s tour-level career began perfectly. On the very first ball he hit, the 17-year-old cut an ace out wide against Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

But Krajinovic, last year’s surprise finalist at the Rolex Paris Masters, generally carried over his strong finish to the 2017 season, fighting off the future star of the ATP World Tour 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 to spoil the Canadian’s tour-level debut.

Auger-Aliassime battled understandable nerves in the beginning. The right-hander had never played a tour-level match before, let alone an ATP World Tour 500 tournament that has also welcomed Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer, who’s chasing No. 1, this week. Surely Auger-Aliassime has walked past or brushed shoulders with the Swiss champions and been reminded once more that he’s at a different level.

“The nerves got to me a little bit in the first set,” said Auger-Aliassime. “I started not bad the first two games, but still I felt tight. I felt my ball wasn’t going as it usually does, playing pretty short, not serving so well. The plan was to just hang in there mentally. It was in my control to stay tough mentally, and that’s what I did. That’s why I was so close to winning the match, but he did great. I think he did great on the important points, saving break point. I think he was a little bit tougher than me on those points.”

The Canadian rose to fame last season when, on the back of two ATP Challenger Tour titles, he became the fourth youngest player to make his Top 200 debut in the ATP Rankings. Richard Gasquet (16 years, 1 month); Rafael Nadal (16 years, 6 months); and Lleyton Hewitt (16 years, 10 months) are the only three players to have made their Top 200 debut at a younger age than Auger-Aliassame (17 years, 1 month, 5 days).

He showed that championship level at times on Tuesday as well, freely hitting his backhand up the line and whipping forehands at will against the Serbian. But Auger-Aliassame couldn’t control his game enough, hitting 49 winners to 53 unforced errors. Still, to push the World No. 38 in your tour-level debut is nothing in which to sulk your shoulders.

“I think we’ll start from here,” he said. “I’m just starting my season, second tournament, and it’s exciting. A lot of new things around. I think I’m dealing with them pretty well, but we’ll start from here. It’s really encouraging the level that I played at the end of the match.”

Krajinovic will next face either second seed Grigor Dimitrov or Japan’s Yuichi Sugita.

Gael Monfils needed one hour, five minutes to overcome Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires on Tuesday.

Monfils won 75 per cent of his first serve points, and converted on his two break point opportunities. 

With the win, Monfils moved to 4-1 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Cuevas. The No. 43-ranked Frenchman will play Dusan Lajovic in the next round. Lajovic was a 7-6(4), 6-1 winner over Argentine qualifier Facundo Bagnis on Monday.

Fifth seed Diego Schwartzman, the highest-seeded Argentine in the singles draw, broke five times to beat Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria. Schwartzman is attempting to become the first homegrown champion in Buenos Aires since David Nalbandian in 2008.

Earlier on Tuesday, eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco moved past Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro, 6-2, 7-5. Verdasco will face Guido Pella, a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner over Nicolas Kicker, in the second round.

Adrian Menendez-Maceiras entered the inaugural New York Open having played just 15 tour-level matches at the age of 32. That is less than two per cent of matches in his career. 

But New York has been a successful location for the Spaniard, who claimed his first Grand Slam match victory last year at Flushing Meadows. And on Tuesday, Menendez-Maceiras saved five match points against home favourite Steve Johnson, the No. 7 seed, to claim his fourth tour-level win. After the match, he spoke to ATPWorldTour.com about his passions and his future.

What’s your biggest passion outside of tennis and why?
Many things but many that I cannot do, because I like risky sports. It’s difficult because I’m a professional player and I can’t ski or go to the mountains and climb, these things. But maybe when I finish my career.

What was the last book you read?
I read novels a lot and biographies about sportsmen and motivational books, I like them.

What is your favourite book?
One of my favourite biographies was about one of my idols when I was young, Andre Agassi. He was a great player from the baseline and I love his game so I liked his book.

Last concert or show you attended?
I don’t have time to go to concerts. One of my dreams for these two months, with my physio, we like Above and Beyond a lot and I know they’re coming over to the United States. But I don’t know if I’ll have time to go and see them.

Favourite sport to watch besides tennis?
I like football a lot. Soccer. I follow it a lot. I have family in Madrid and sometimes I have time to go there to see the Champions League and I enjoy it a lot.

Favourite Club?
Real Madrid.

Outside of your family, whom do you admire most?
My coach in Marbella, Eric Scherer. He’s not here unfortunately but I’m working with him a lot. He’s my age. He’s a great friend and I think we’re working a lot to have a match like today. I was fighting a lot and working a lot for many years with him and finally I got it.

My tennis career will be a success if ___________
Last year I got my first win at a Grand Slam here in the US Open. For me it was unbelievable, so many years and finally to get a win in a big event. For sure now it’s fighting to get into the Top 100 [of the ATP Rankings].

After my tennis career, I want to ___________
I love kids and I love my sport so that’s why I’m still fighting, playing here and travelling so much away from my family and my girlfriend. I love my sport and for sure in the future I want to teach the kids.